Decorated Caddoan Ceramics from Two Sites on the Elm Fork of the Trinity River, Dallas County, Texas

Timothy K Perttula

doi:10.21112/.ita.1998.1.42

Abstract

Caddoan pottery is widely distributed as items of trade and exchange across the northern and eastern parts of the state of Texas (and indeed in several other states outside Texas), although specific information on the amounts and/or kinds of Caddoan pottery actually recovered in such non-Caddoan archaeological contexts is still quite spotty. Over the last several years, l have been compiling this ceramic information where it is available (i.e., in the published literature, from unpublished papers, and in the collections of avocational archaeologists) as part of a broader study of prehistoric Caddoan interaction and trade with neighboring groups. In this paper, I document small but interesting samples of decorated Caddoan ceramics from 41DL239 and 41DL240 on the Elm Fork of the Trinity River in Dallas County, Texas.

Highlights

Caddoan pottery is widely distributed as items of trade and exchange across the northern and eastern parts of the state of Texas, specific information on the amounts and/or kinds of Caddoan pottery recovered in such non-Caddoan archaeological contexts is still quite spotty (Perttula et al 1995: 189-190)
Site 41DL239 has received surface collections by private individuals and the Dallas Archeological Society (Lorrain 1978), while limited test excavations were conducted in the early 1980s at 41DL240 (Lorrain 1980)
At 41DL240, the Late Prehistoric materials reported by Lorrain (1985) consist of four stemmed and serrated arrowpoints and 34 Caddoan pottery sherds (Prikryl LI990:93J notes only 27 sherds from 41DL240), 25 of which are part of one vessel (Lorrain 1985:Figure 4 )

Summary

Introduction

Caddoan pottery is widely distributed as items of trade and exchange across the northern and eastern parts of the state of Texas (and in several other states outside Texas), specific information on the amounts and/or kinds of Caddoan pottery recovered in such non-Caddoan archaeological contexts is still quite spotty (Perttula et al 1995: 189-190). Over the last several years, I have been compiling this ceramic information where it is available (i.e., in the published literature, from unpublished papers, and in the collections of avocational archaeologists) as part of a broader study of prehistoric Caddoan interaction and trade with neighboring groups. I document small but interesting samples of decorated Caddoan ceramics from 41 DL239 and 41 DL240 on the Elm Fork of the Trinity River in Dallas County, Texas

The Sites

The Caddoan Ceramics

Conclusions